Word of mouth will help professional contractors get work

Date: March 09, 2010

Category: Contractor Industry News

Professional contractors should make sure that they attend business events and keep in touch with contacts, as new research shows that word-of-mouth referrals are thriving in the UK.

A study from Business Network International (BNI) found that these referrals are booming in the current economic climate, increasing deals between the organisation's members by 21 per cent.

According to the research, this led to a £230 million of business in 2009, up from 2008's figure of £185 million.

Charlie Lawson, national director of the BNI, said: "It's not widely known that 98 per cent of businesses rely on referrals for gaining new business, yet only three per cent have a strategy for gaining word of mouth referrals."

He added that the recession has changed the way people do businesses and how small firms market themselves.

Dr Ivan Misner, founder of the BNI, said that professional contractors have to earn trust in a networking group before people will pass work their way.

Posted by John Crawley